Method of destructing waste and an apparatus for carrying out said method

ABSTRACT

A method of destruction of waste and a destructor for carrying out said method, in which the collected waste is compressed by a piston in a collecting room, and pressed towards a rotating, grinding disc provided with cutting edges which disintegrates the waste while it is still under pressure, and throws the disintegrated waste out through an outlet opening where disinfectant is added and the waste is collected for utilization as filling material or for manufacturing of bricks or briquettes.

United States Patent [1 1 1 I [11'1-3 3,774,852

Edlund Nov. 27, 1973 METHOD OF DESTRUCTING WAS TE AND [56] References Cited AN APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT UNITED STATES PATENTS SAID METHOD 3,589,276 6/1971 Swallert 100/39 x 75 Inventor: K bJ Edlund, M i l- 2,918,224 12/1959 Homberger... 241/38 X Finland 3,153,511 10/1964 Atack et a1. 241/277 3,326,478 6/1967 Endert 100/39 X [73] Assignee: AWAB Anderstorps Werkstads A/B,

Anders'torp, Sweden Primary ExaminerGranville Y. Custer, Jr. [22] Filed: May 6, 1971 Att0rneyS1lverman & Cass 211 App]. No.1 140,897 57 ABSTRACT A method of destruction of waste and a destructor for [30] Foreign Application p i it Data carrying out said method, in which the collected waste is compressed by a piston in a collecting room, and

ay 1970 Sweden 6444/70 pressed towards a rotating, grinding dlSC provided with 52 Cl u 2 cutting edges'which disintegrates the waste while it is l 1 U S 241/3 41/27 5 52 still under pressure, and throws the disintegrated [51] Int. Cl Bozc 18/40 waste out through an outlet opening where disinfec- [58] Field 27 38 41 tant is added and the waste is collected for utilization 241/60 62 257 R 278 100/98 R as filling material or for manufacturing of bricks or 100/39 briquettes.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures METHOD OF DESTRUCTING WASTE AND AN APPARATUS FOR CARRYING OUT SAID METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is a great problem to dispose of waste in a hygienically satisfactory way, especially in hospitals where waste is collected in large quantities. A great part of said waste is infected with germs and cannot be disposed of by ordinary means.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of destructing waste, especially infected waste and waste which, for other reasons, is difficult to handle. The invention includes the steps of collecting the waste, compressing the collected waste to a predetermined degree, depending on'the type of waste that is compressed, and disintegrating or pulverizing the compressed waste by grinding while the collected waste is maintained under pressure. The invention also relates to a destructor for carrying out said method. The destructor of the invention includes a chamber for receiving a sack or the like containing the collected waste, means for compressing said waste and pressing it towards said grinding disc, and means for collecting the disintegrated wastewhen it leaves said grinding disc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 'FIG. 1 is a simplified illustration of a longitudinal sec tion of the destructor constructed according to the invention, the same being shown in its starting position.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of the device shown in FIG. 1 in anotheroperating thereof position.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating the device in still another operating position thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFFERRED EMBODIMENT The destructor of the invention comprises an outer collecting chamber 1 with an inlet opening 10, a downwardly displaceable cylinder 2, a rotatable bottom disc 11, a helical chamber 12 for receiving disintegrated waste, a hydraulic cylinder with a piston 4 and a frame structure 5 for supporting all said parts.

The outer collecting chamber 1 is intended for receiving waste, collected in a sack 6 or the like. The sack 6 is inserted through the opening 10 and placed on the disc 11. The displaceable cylinder 2 is then in its rest position (see FIG. 1), Le. a position mainly above the outer collection chamber 1. From said position the cylinder 2 is displaceable to a working position where the cylinder is located inside the collecting chamber 1. In this latter position, the cylinder 2 covers the opening 10 and surrounds the sack 6 entirely. The displacement of the cylinder 2 to this position is accomplished by the hydraulic cylinder 4, the piston rod 41 of which is connected to a projection 24 of the cylinder 2. For purposes of simplifying the illustration, only one hydraulic cylinder 4 is shown, but in order to achieve a better and more reliable function, two or more symmetrically distributed cylinders should preferably be used. There is a projection 24 for each cylinder 4. Each of said projections penetrates the wall of the outer collecting chamber 1 in a longitudinal slot 13 for enabling the displacement of the cylinder 2.

The displaceable cylinder 2 is provided with a radial flange at its bottom end and said flange is provided with radially extending, metal ribs 20 at its bottom surface. The piston device 3 is likewise providedwith radially disposed metal ribs 30 on the bottom surface thereof. The top surface of the rotatable, grinding disc 11 is provided with cutting edges 14, 15, extending in directions which deviate from the radial direction. By means of a motor 16 the grinding disc 11 is caused to rotate. The axial pressure from the compressed. waste and from the grinding disc is taken up by the bottom part of the helical chamber I2. Therefore, the motor 16 is not subjected to any such axial pressure.

In operation of the destructor, the sack 6 containing the waste is inserted through the opening 10 and placed on the grinding disc 11 in the collecting chamber 1. The cylinder 2 is displaced downwardly until it contacts the disc 11 and covers the opening; 10. The piston 3 is displaced downwardly so that the sack 6 is compressed to a predetermined degree, depending on the type of waste. Then, the cylinder 2 is lifted slightly until there is a suitable slit between the cylinder 2 and the disc 11, through which slit small particles of disintegrated waste are thrown out into the helical chamber 12 by the centrifugal force of the rotating disc 11. After the compression of the waste and lifting of the cylinder 2, the disc 11 is caused to rotate where action of the waste is disintegrated or pulverized by the grinding by the edges 15. During the grinding the piston 3 is displaced downwardly in order to maintain the pressure on the compressed but still not disintegrated or pulverized waste.

The position of the piston 3 immediately before the disc 11 starts rotating is shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows the position of the piston 3 when all the waste has been disintegrated or pulverized.

After lifting of the piston 3 and the cylinder 2 up to the positions shown in FIG. 1, the destructoris ready to receive another sack of waste. The disintegrated or pulverized material is collected by the spiral 12, as mentioned above, and is allowed to run out through an output opening 17, for example, into a briquettemachine connected to the destructor.

Control means are connected to the destruction machinery and are programmed to give pulses for control of the displaceable cylinder 2, the rotatable disc Ill and the piston 3, so that the operations described above will follow automatically.

The device may also comprise means for supplying desinfectants continuously or at regular intervals to the waste at the outlet opening 17 for disintegrated waste and/or at the inlet opening 10 for the collected waste. The means for supplying desinfectant may, for example, be connected to a lid covering the outlet opening 10, so that each time the lid is opened, a predetermined quantity of disinfectant is supplied to the discharged waste. Alternatively, it is possible to provide said control means with a device for controlling a disinfectant dispensing apparatus, by means of which disinfectant is regularly automatically supplied to the inlet and/or the outlet opening 10 and 17 respectively.

In an example of an embodiment of the invention, a destructor with a sack of liters volume was used. This sack was first compressed to 20 liters, after which by grinding, 6 liters of pulverized, disinfectant material was left which was used as filling material in construction work.

What we claim is:

1. A method for destructing waste in an apparatus having a chamber with an opening, a rotatable horizontal grinding disc at the bottom of the chamber, a vertically movable piston device at the top of the chamber and a displaceable cylinder surrounding'the piston device, said method comprising the steps of placing the waste through the opening in the chamber between the piston and the disc, displacing the cylinder downwardly to contact the disc and cover the opening, reducing the volume of the waste in the chamber bycompressing the same upon movement of the piston toward the disc, raising the cylinder to provide a slit between the disc and the cylinder, then disintegrating and pulverizing the reduced volume waste by rotating the horizontal grinding disc while simultaneously maintaining pressure on the compressed waste, and removing the disin-- tegrated waste from the chamber.

2. An apparatus for destructing waste comprising, a chamber having an opening in the side thereof for receiving the waste, a substantially horizontal rotatable grinding disc forming the bottom of the chamber, a piston device movable longitudinally within the chamber from the top thereof to a position adjacent the grinding disc, the piston device having a head part of substantially the'same radial dimension as that of the chamber, the upper grinding surface of the grinding disc having a generally concave depressed area with a planar peripheral area, a plurality of cutting edges provided on the concave and planar areas of the disc, the head part of the piston device being of generally convex configuration for mating disposition with the disc when the piston device has been moved proximate the disc, the head part of the piston device having radially disposed ribs provided thereon, and control means to sequentially control operation of the piston device and the grinding disc such that the disc will not rotate until the waste is first compressed in the chamber by movement of the piston device toward the disc whereupon the disc will rotate to disintegrate the waste while pressure is maintained on the waste.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 including adisplaceable cylinder surrounding the head part of the piston device and movable longitudinally within the chamber, the cylinder having radially disposed ribs positioned about the circumferential edge thereof for cooperation with the cutting edges provided on the planar areas of the grinding disc. 

1. A method for destructing waste in an apparatus having a chamber with an opening, a rotatable horizontal grinding disc at the bottom of the chamber, a vertically movable piston device at the top of the chamber and a displaceable cylinder surrounding the piston device, said method comprising the steps of placing the wastE through the opening in the chamber between the piston and the disc, displacing the cylinder downwardly to contact the disc and cover the opening, reducing the volume of the waste in the chamber by compressing the same upon movement of the piston toward the disc, raising the cylinder to provide a slit between the disc and the cylinder, then disintegrating and pulverizing the reduced volume waste by rotating the horizontal grinding disc while simultaneously maintaining pressure on the compressed waste, and removing the disintegrated waste from the chamber.
 2. An apparatus for destructing waste comprising, a chamber having an opening in the side thereof for receiving the waste, a substantially horizontal rotatable grinding disc forming the bottom of the chamber, a piston device movable longitudinally within the chamber from the top thereof to a position adjacent the grinding disc, the piston device having a head part of substantially the same radial dimension as that of the chamber, the upper grinding surface of the grinding disc having a generally concave depressed area with a planar peripheral area, a plurality of cutting edges provided on the concave and planar areas of the disc, the head part of the piston device being of generally convex configuration for mating disposition with the disc when the piston device has been moved proximate the disc, the head part of the piston device having radially disposed ribs provided thereon, and control means to sequentially control operation of the piston device and the grinding disc such that the disc will not rotate until the waste is first compressed in the chamber by movement of the piston device toward the disc whereupon the disc will rotate to disintegrate the waste while pressure is maintained on the waste.
 3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 including a displaceable cylinder surrounding the head part of the piston device and movable longitudinally within the chamber, the cylinder having radially disposed ribs positioned about the circumferential edge thereof for cooperation with the cutting edges provided on the planar areas of the grinding disc. 